Tips for Reusing Your Candle Jars

It’s no secret that I have a slight obsession with candles. I always have one burning and love switching them up, depending on my mood. And I also love reusing my candle jars for things like storing some beauty bits, hairpins, makeup brushes, etc. And the topic has kept on coming up on my Instagram, so I thought I’d write this quick post on how to repurpose your candles.

Step 1. Get the Wax Out

If there is a lot of wax left behind (like with Ikea candles, they never burn all the way), I put the jars in a freezer for a few hours- your candle has to be cooled off when doing this. After a few hours, I just use a knife to take the wax out.

Step 2. Clean the Candle

Sometimes (or… most of the time) there is still some wax residue on the sides of the jar, after removing the wax and what’s left of the wick. That’s when I reach for acetone. I just take a piece of paper towel, soak it in nail polish remover and clean the inside of the candle jar. It works like a dream in removing any excess soot and/or wax and leaves the jar nice and clean. I then wash it with some soap and let it dry.

Keep in mind that I only use the acetone on the inside of the jar. If your candle jar has logo stickers/prints of any kind, and you use acetone on it, you’ll end up removing the logo. I actually use acetone to remove price stickers whenever I buy candles from IKEA - For some strange reason, they like to place them right on the “face” of the candle.

This is pretty much all I do when repurposing candle jars. The whole process is definitely much easier, when you “look after” your candles while burning them. Hugs!